


The Moment Of Truth

by Leni



Series: Beautiful Freedom [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 03:51:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16967130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: Belle has escaped from her cell underneath the hospital. What now?





	The Moment Of Truth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Joylee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joylee/gifts).



> @joylee56 asked ‘what if Belle was awake in Storybrooke under the curse?’

“Ma'am,” Gold said, wishing he kept a gun at the pawnshop after all. The intruder was so small and thin that he might be able to force her back onto the street, but he felt loathe to touch her again. Not after that bewildering hug that had been her introduction.

The naked hurt with which she’d stared at him after Gold had pushed her away had distracted him enough to let her scurry past him into the back room.

“Ma'am,” he tried again, his grasp tight around the handle of his cane though he hesitated at even the idea of threatening her. Violence was meant as an equalizer against those who believed in superiority by size. The girl didn’t even seem to care that he was in the same room, focused only on riffling through his folders, making him wince as she upset his organization by discarding file after file over her shoulder. “I have called the police,” he warned her, arching an eyebrow when she showed no reaction. Given her choice of attire, perhaps he should have called the hospital instead. “If you leave at once, I won’t tell the doctors where you’ve gone.”

There was little pleasure in seeing her freeze, and not because the spike of fear didn’t last.

“They won’t care,” she told him, though her hands shook as she opened the next cabinet. “I’m not part of this… this… wherever we are. I was never supposed to come outside, so there was no reason for anyone to know about me.” Her voice lowered into a haunted whisper. “She says I’m no one. I’m no one, Rumple, and she is letting me run because she knows I’ve got nowhere to go. She laughed at me, dared me to make you believe.” She glanced at him, a plea in her eyes, but shook her head when he just stared back. “Well, then,” she said, and Gold recognized a stubborn streak that might rival his own. “I’ll try something else. This is the last time she underestimates me!”

“Who is ‘she’?” Gold muttered, drawn despite himself to her mad tale. “And why can’t you call me by my name?”

The girl bit her lip and looked away, bringing her attention back to her search. “I know you as she doesn’t,” she said, much as someone would a prayer. “I know you keep every contract and deal, and I’ve dusted the scrolls enough to know you keep even the ones that have been fulfilled.” She took a deep breath even as she dropped another folder into the floor. “No,” she muttered, mostly to herself. “You aren’t as heartless as to have tossed mine away.”

Her path of destruction continued, while Gold scowled at Humbert’s ineptitude. He would bet that the Sheriff was under orders to take his time to respond to Gold’s calls, no matter the urgency.

“If you are really looking for a contract, shouldn’t you have tried my office first?”

The girl laughed. “In that house where you barely spend the night? No. You keep what’s important close to you.” She went onto her tiptoes to reach a last folder in the back of the cabinet, from which she withdrew a single sheet.

It was wrinkled as if it had been balled up and straightened several times, and Gold would have sneered at anyone else for keeping a document in such a disgraceful state.

Nevertheless, the girl started laughing as she read over it.

“You kept it,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes. “For a moment, I feared….” Her fears remained an unknown as she straightened and quickly swept at her eyes. She showed him the document, smiling for the first time since they’d stepped into the back room. “See? This was me. I recognize my own writing even if it’s not my real…. Nevermind that. Look!”

Despite his doubts, he did come closer, following the finger she pointed at one of the signatures at the bottom. He glanced over it, paying more attention to the seals at each side and his own signature in a corner.

“Lacey Beaumont,” she read happily. “I’m Lacey, and you and I still have a deal.”

He couldn’t remember the last time - or the first, really - when someone had been pleased to have business with him. He checked again, just in case, but had to surrender to the evidence. “It’s authentic,” he confirmed, confused again.

The girl was grinning from ear to ear, even bouncing on her feet. “Of course. It’s forever!”

Gold didn’t even try to make sense of her comment. His mind was busy coming to grips with a contract he couldn’t remember, though now that he saw it, he had a vague idea of having seen a younger version of the girl, her face pale as she accepted his terms.

Yes. Of course. A heavy loan for health expenses (the father hadn’t survived, pity) in exchange for a live-in maid.

How could he have forgotten?

“It seems I’ve been too generous with your mourning leave,” he said, snatching the contract from her hands, less he lose it again. “I can’t imagine what scraps you’ve gotten yourself into, Miss Beaumont, or what pushed you into this condition-” he wrinkled his nose at her bedraggled appearance- “but from this moment on, you’re back under my service. Do pick some clothes from the racks and get decent. Then you can start by cleaning up the mess you’ve just made.”

For a moment he thought that she’d launch herself at him again. Scowling, he backed away, and bristled even more when his concern was unproved. “Well,” he snarled, “get to it!”

“Yes, sir.” The maddening girl actually smiled. “I’m so glad to be back.”

 

The End  
21/05/18

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, please?


End file.
